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Measure By Trees
by Michelle Ratering | Mar 29, 2015 | Placeless
When I was a child, I measured myself against the tallest tree. This tree, this tallest tree, it wasn’t a redwood or a giant ash. It was a white pine.
The Best Story I Ever Told
by Bekah (Williamson) Medendorp | Mar 28, 2015 | Placeless
I know the saying is that misery loves company, but in my experience I reckon misery loves an audience. There, in the center of a circle of eager listeners, I peaked.
Catharsis
by Brad Zwiers | Mar 27, 2015 | Placeless
That computer fan breathes so loud now that I can’t ignore it. My mind fixates on the sound and won’t let it go, an act pretty typical of my mind in the midst of anxiety.
The World is Larger Still
by Griffin Jackson | Mar 26, 2015 | Placeless
This is a source of regret for me now. I had ample opportunity to learn, maintain, and grow my language skills, but, quite simply, it wasn’t a priority.
Why I Visit Korean Bathhouses
by Greg Kim | Mar 25, 2015 | Chicago
My own body felt like it was about to become a steamed bun. But I needed to stay long enough so that the older gentlemen in the room don’t think I was a silly wuss.
Margin Notes on Gentleness
by Lauren (Boersma) Harris | Mar 24, 2015 | Placeless
In Denny’s, my vanilla ice cream and characteristic joyful temperament were melting into a puddle of white-chocolate raspberry pancake balls and self-loathing.
Day Lent
by Michael Kelly | Mar 23, 2015 | Placeless
Perhaps similarly, spiritual renewal has become a side effect of Lent. Perhaps everything is a morbidly unintended effect of our own self-interest.
Jesus Films for Lent
by Robert Zandstra | Mar 22, 2015 | Placeless
My Lenten discipline this year is to watch as many films about Jesus as my spare time allows. Below is a ranked list with brief reviews of all the ones I’ve seen so far.
Montage
by Gabe Gunnink | Mar 20, 2015 | Placeless
So rather than lament them, let’s lean into our montage moments; let’s learn to appreciate routine and apply ourselves faithfully to our daily goings out and comings in.
Fighting the Inertia
by Mary Margaret Healy | Mar 19, 2015 | Placeless
I am utterly inept at planning my own life. I rarely even finish a to-do list on a daily basis. But what does it look like to trust God’s plans for my groceries or my smart phone?
SkyMall
by Matt & Laura Hubers | Mar 18, 2015 | Placeless
I like to imagine this whole catalog was written sarcastically. Then when it came time for the copywriter to review the first proof she sighed and said, “Whatever. It’s fine.”
Gethsemani
by Geneva Langeland | Mar 17, 2015 | Kentucky
Who knew what community of spirit could be built among people who never speak? We say all that’s needed through smiles and held-open doors.
Your 2015 March Madness Survival Guide
by Andrew Knot | Mar 16, 2015 | Placeless
Traditionally understood as a three-week nadir in American office productivity, March Madness might now be the country’s most sustained peak of corporate exposure.
Potato Salad Confessions
by Cassie Westrate | Mar 15, 2015 | Placeless
Just be kind today. No matter how you feel about where you are, no matter how you feel about what you’re doing, just be kind.
Ketchup and Blood Part Three
by Will Montei | Mar 14, 2015 | Placeless
Of course, when you’re actually Ryan “Hey Girl” Gosling, and you’ve got Nicholas “I’ve Never Written Two Different Stories” Sparks writing your script, you have that luxury.
Tiny Death Concerts
by Catherine Kramer | Mar 13, 2015 | Placeless
I foolishly believed that my love of the concept of the Tiny Desk Concert would be enough to make me love the majority of the Tiny Desk Concerts. I was mistaken.
A Letter To My Cell Phone
by Abby Zwart | Mar 12, 2015 | Placeless
It’s also pretty distracting to have you around. You’re always buzzing and beeping. Those little red flags you throw up tempt me like a bull in the hot Spanish sun.
The Value of Stupid Inertia
by Elaine Schnabel | Mar 11, 2015 | Placeless
But in the end it’s words words words, nothing but wild and whirling words in our heads, and we’re dead in ways we’ll never be able to fix by thinking more about it.
(Home)sick
by Katie Van Zanen | Mar 10, 2015 | Egypt
I haven’t discovered any resolution to the twin tasks of gratitude and lamentation, a word I may be using to sanctify my grousing.
If Only
by Bart Tocci | Mar 9, 2015 | Placeless
We’re waiting in the lobby, and we see them. She walks over to us, and we’re thinking, oh boy. Later we would say, “It was so weird, because she sure sounded hot.”
Peanut Butter Crackers
by Paul Menn | Mar 8, 2015 | Placeless
I trotted back to preschool to rejoin snacktime. I tore open my snack, took a bite…and stopped. I had never tasted something so vile and disgusting.
In Defense of Self-Love
by Caroline (Higgins) Nyczak | Mar 7, 2015 | Placeless
The more I practice self-love, the more I come to believe in its power. The more I make time to love myself, the more energy I have to love others.
Homeless
by Josh deLacy | Mar 6, 2015 | Washington
Courtesy of a racist sixty-year-old neighbor still living with his mother; a virtually nonexistent housing inventory due in turn to Jeff Bezos, Mt. Rainier, and murky multifamily home regulations; the less-than-shining precedent set by other groups of male,...
For Whom the Chimes Toll
by Alissa Anderson | Mar 5, 2015 | Placeless
The one group I did join pretty quickly was the Guild of Chimers, which is possibly the lowest-commitment group on campus.
Nature Can Be A…
by Ben Rietema | Mar 4, 2015 | New Zealand
Sometimes there is nothing better than being outside; sometimes I would pay anything to escape.
The Real World
by Sabrina Lee | Mar 3, 2015 | Placeless
When we talk about the “real world,” we implicitly negate either our neighbor’s reality or our own. We fail to recognize that life is hard for everyone.
The Room
by Jacob Schepers | Mar 2, 2015 | Placeless
I won’t give away The Room’s plot (what little there is of one). I want to champion the film as an exemplar of side-splittingly cringe-worthy, schadenfreude-propelled group viewing.
Reading a Mystic
by Amy (Allen) Frieson | Mar 1, 2015 | Placeless
Benedictines read the psalms every day, and it’s through these outpourings of emotion that Norris finds a version of religion that resonates with her wordsmith identity
Focus
by Bekah (Williamson) Medendorp | Feb 28, 2015 | Placeless
We pursue any available detour, texting, Snapchatting, Netflixing, to avoid the work of attention. It is slowly robbing us of joy, of that mysterious dimension.
The Middle World
by Brad Zwiers | Feb 27, 2015 | Placeless
The advance of modern science has also shaped our sensibilities in such a way that we don’t have room for mystery or a reality infused with another reality.
